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Verona Assistent Mixer

Verona Assistent Mixer

I just ordered an Assistent mixer on Amazon. After ordering, when I looked in my "orders" list I noticed that it lists the model slightly differently than it did on the page I ordered from. Specifically, it lists it as "Verona Assistent AKM6220B 7 lbs mixer".

I was under the impression that in spite of the fact that this mixer has been sold under several different names over the years they are all fundamentally the same. Now I'm a little unsure since I don't recall seeing the actual model number listed like this before. I ordered it in kind of a rush because I just got my wife to agree to let me buy it and I wanted to get in under the wire so it would ship today and arrive tomorrow. Now I'm worried that I may have acted too quickly. I'm hoping that some of you, my fellow bread enthusiasts, may be able to put my mind at ease. Here's a link to what I ordered:

Thanks, Gary. Now I can enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling of anticipation as I await delivery tomorrow. I'm also getting the Breville Sous Chef food processor and I anticipate that will be excellent for grinding my freshly sprouted grain into dough.

I love my Assistent, but honestly, it sat on my counter for a year collecting dust after trying to use it a few times without much success. FINALLY, I broke my third KitchenAid mixer and said "To hell with it! I'm going to learn to use this thing if its the last thing I do!" I did, I watched a great couple of videos of people demonstrating the mixer and the common thread in all of them was to add the water or liquid first, then slowly add the flour. It's just the opposite many times in my kitchen. After seeing the roller and the kneader working, I realized where I was going wrong.. now I love it. It is a challenge on some breads, but the more I use it, the better it works. I wouldn't trade it now for the world.

Thanks. Mine arrived today but it was too late in the day to make bread. I'll be breaking it in tomorrow, the first day of 2014. I've watched a number of videos, read a lot of material and have quite a few years of bread making experience under my belt. I'm sure there will be a learning curve but I'm confident that my new appliance and I will soon be friends. It sure looks and feels like a high-quality item!

Made my trial run yesterday. Ground up about eight cups of grain in my Nutrimill (wheat, rye, barley), loaded the Assistent with about six cups of water, 4 tsp salt, 2 TBL walnut oil and 1/3 cup of molasses. Fired it up and started adding the flour. Added it all bit by bit along with about 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten and a couple more cups of commercial whole wheat flour. Let it mix and knead with the dough hook and side scraper for a total of about ten or twelve minutes, maybe a bit longer, I kind of lost track of the time as I was adding the flour.

This made a somewhat wetter dough than when I make it by hand, when I'm hand kneading I tend to make it drier because it's easier to handle with less sticking to the board and hands.

Allowed to bulk rise for about 75 minutes, split into loaves and proofed for another ninety or so. Baked at 350F for 50 minutes.

Bread came out fabulous. Lighter and airier than hand made version due to the higher hydration and excellent gluten developement.

Machine never broke a sweat. Worked magnificently from start to finish. No sign of strain or trouble. I think I'm going to love this thing. Looking forward to trying a lot of different doughs in it in the weeks to come. Made my KitchenAid stand mixer look like a child's toy by comparison.

Kbone, thanks for the review. I have an Assistent and love it, but the more reviews, both positive and negative, the better so that others can have a better feel for the machine before they spend their hard earned dollars. Barry.

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